This year Bellevue Fashion Weekhas a solid line up of do-not-miss events so take my advice and block out your calendar now! Fashion week runs from September 29th- October 4th and will include runway fashion shows, VIP shopping nights and even a couture hair and fashion show sponsored by 7 Salon and the Zebra Club. The main event of course is the Vogue “Front Row Fashion Runway Show” produced by Vogue Magazine using fashion from The Bellevue Collection. Special guest Anne Vincent, Director of Merchandising for Vogue, will be on hand to share her insight on Fall’s Must-Have items.

Fashion Week will kick-off on September 29th with a screening of The September Issue, a documentary that focuses on Anna Wintour, the legendary editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, who is one of the most powerful women in the world of fashion and also the driving force behind the heavily edited fashions that grace the pages of Vogue. The debut will be followed by a special invite-only after party featuring a Q & A reception with The September IssueDirector R. J. Cutler. To view the movie trailer, clickhere.

“With all of the new luxury brands choosing to open at The Bellevue Collection including Burberry, Michael Kors and Hugo Boss, plus the broad collection of haute designers featured at Nordstrom and boutiques like David Lawrence and Mercer, partnering with Vogue to present our major fashion event was a perfect match,” says Jennifer Leavitt, vice president of marketing, Kemper Development Company (KDC), owners of The Bellevue Collection. “This partnership speaks to the affluence, sophistication and fashionable sensibility of our core customers. We are ecstatic to be able to bring Vogue to the Northwest for Fashion Week at The Collection.”

Additional Fashion Week Events include:Sept. 30th - Nordstrom Fall Fashion Show at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue to benefit the Detlef Schrempf Foundation. The evening will begin at 7pm with cocktail and hors d’oeuvres followed by the runway show at 8pm showcasing the best of contemporary and emerging designers. For tickets or more information, call the Detlef Schrempf Foundation at 206.464.0826 or click here.

Oct. 1st- Italia: Life in ‘I’ Stylepresented by David Lawrence and the Italian Trade Commission at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue. Doors open at 7:30 pm; Show starts at 8 pm. A runway show featuring the hottest men’s & women’s fashions featuring Italian brands including Versace, Armani, Zegna, DSquared2, Just Cavalli, Flavio Castellani, Frankie Morello, Viktor & Rolf, John Richmond, and others. Hair styling provided by Obadiah Salon. A VIP Party will follow the show inside the store by invitation only. Tickets are $50 in advance, $75 at the door. Ticket price includes a $25 gift certificate to David Lawrence distributed at the show and redeemable during the month of October. To buy tickets or for more information visit the store or call David Lawrence at 425.688.1669.

Oct. 3rd- Front Row Fashion Presented by Vogue at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue. Doors open at 6pm and the show begins at 7pm. General Admission tickets are $75 and include drinks and appetizers, entrance to the show, swag bag, a $20 gift certificate to The Bellevue Collection and admittance to the VIP Shopping Night following the show. All Access Tickets are $125 and include complimentary valet parking, access to the private pre-party lounge with complimentary drinks and appetizers, entrance to the show, reserved preferred seating, exclusive All Access swag bag, a $50 gift certificate to The Bellevue Collection and admittance to the VIP Shopping Night following the show. 21+ and over. To purchase tickets clickhere.

Oct. 3rd- VIP Shopping Nightat The Bellevue Collection, featuring a host of exclusive offers from stores throughout The Collection. The VIP shopping night will be held from 8-10pm and include decadent desserts, rich coffee, and a $20 gift certificate from The Bellevue Collection. You’ll also be privy to exclusive offers from some of The Bellevue Collection’s finest stores open late just for you. Participating stores will remain open until 10 pm. Event is $25 in advance and $35 at the door (space is limited).Oct. 4th- Urban Blowout, cutting edge hair meets cutting edge fashion by 7 Salon and Zebraclub at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue. Doors open at 7pm. Put together your whole look with hair by 7 Salon and fashion from Zebraclub. More than a fashion show, it’s an event that you won’t want to miss! Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at 7 Salon locations and at Zebraclub.

100% of Front Row Fashion and VIP Shopping Night ticket sales will go to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue has been providing after-school and out-of-school care for the youth in our community for 56 years. For more info on Bellevue Fashion Week, click here.

Navigating the Seattle fashion scene is easy when you know where to shop. Here's the inside scoop on Seattle's handbag designers and boutiques.

Rocco E Dante

Designer Tara Sauvage created Rocco E Dante, a line of stylish handbags as a tribute to her love of design, luxury and global travel. The collection features modern and vintage inspired silhouettes in Italian finished leathers in bold hues. The Rocco e Dante girl is looking for that one fabulous handbag each season to complete her look or one must-have accessory that will last her the whole year and into the next.

Sabrina Love

Former fashion stylist and costume designer, Sabrina Love has always been passionate about handbags. While spending two years in Europe she developed an appreciation for supple Italian leathers and simple, timeless designs all the while acquiring experience and resources for production of her own line. Sabrina Love’s line of handbags is stylish, functional and edgy made from the highest quality of Italian Lamb leather and luxurious imported hardware.

Anne Sylvain

Anne Sylvain’s handmade exotic skin and fine leather accessories are sleekly shaped yet cut with a modern edge. The entire line is made in the USA using a variety of ethically sourced materials. Designed for a sophisticated, independent woman who creates her own style and appreciates the refined details found in true luxury, Anne Sylvain uses the world’s finest leathers and sumptuous exotic skins.

Muratori Handbags

Luxury...with the world in mind sums up the Muratori mission of producing high quality designer handbags that are both beautiful and environmentally conscious. When Julie Berard and husband Todd launched Muratori they wanted to do more than just design beautiful handbags. Their dream was to produce luxurious high fashion handbags that were sensitive to the environment. By design they wanted to satisfy today's customer who wants it all - style, environmental sensitivity and ethical business practices.

Bag, Borrow or Steal

When Jennifer Hudson wowed Sarah Jessica Parker with her patchwork Louis Vuitton rental in the first Sex & The City movie, Bag Borrow or Steal became a household name. Located in Seattle, the designer handbag, accessory and jewelry rental site brings luxury fashion to the masses. 100% of the items on the site are verified for authenticity and the site regularly stocks on-trend pieces from designers like Gucci, Prada, Chanel, Chloe, Louis Vuitton and Tory Burch. Bag Borrow or Steal offers free standard shipping and includes damage insurance in the price of each rental.

My favorite London purchase was my Kurt Geiger shoes from Harrods of course! They are a champagne pink color with bows at the toes, a platform heel and adorable ruffle details at the heel! I heart them.

Kurt Geiger is known as one of Europe's leading luxury footwear retailers and his products are a favorite of fashion magazines such as Vogue, Grazia, Elle and Glamour. In 2002, Kurt Geiger built a solid partnership with British Vogue becoming the exclusive sponsor of the magazine's first 'Ultimate Shoe Guide’, which was so successful it continued for four consecutive years. The success of the 'Ultimate Shoe Guide' led to the launch of the men's equivalent, the 'GQ Shoe Guide' in 2005. In 2006, Kurt Geiger and Vogue further fortified their relationship with Kurt Geiger's exclusive sponsorship of the 'Vogue Catwalk Guide'.

In early July Kurt Geiger put together an art installation at Dover Street's Air Gallery which showcased “The Stiletto” and featured six shoes styles in five fabrics and over 100 colors.

Needless to say, when it comes to shoes you can’t go wrong with a pair from Kurt Geiger. Shop online now by clicking here. And don’t forget to check out the sale section!

Oh how I love a good newspaper. Back in the states I normally only buy the Thursday edition of the New York Times (for the style section of course!), but here in London I’ve been taking advantage of all the free newspapers down in the tube like the London Lite and the London Evening standard!

You can learn quite a few things from these papers, for example:

•Diesel has just invented a new type of denim made from paper. The water-resistent lightweight fabric poses as denim but feels like silk. Each of the Cotton Paper Denim jeans comes with it’s own storage bag! $180 pounds.

• This year’sLondon Fashion Week marks the 25th Anniversary and is set to be the biggest yet with more than 50 catwalk shows over six days and 20 presentations in which designers explore unusal ways of showing spring/summer 2010 collections.

• Sir Philip Green, retail tycoon, has held detailed planning talks to open his Topshop fashion chain in China after seeing it’s successful opening in New York last year.

London’s newspapers are a great way to pass the time while riding the tube or occupying your time while grabbing a cup of coffee at one of the sidewalk cafes.

Ask anyone that knows me, and they'll tell you I love a good fashion film. I love the dresses, the drama and the true craftsmanship that goes into each design. Last Spring there was the Sex and the City Movie, then Valentino: The Last Emperor, followed by Confessions of a Shopaholic, and now of course, The September Issue. Filmmaker R.J. Cutler was granted exclusive access to the Vogue offices in order to follow Anna Wintour and see the chaos that goes into making the coveted September issue.

The film focuses on Anna Wintour herself, the legendary editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine who is one of the most powerful women in the world of fashion. You may remember another fashion film, The Devil Wears Prada, which is loosely based on her. “It’s quite hard to look up at yourself in such an intense way,” said Anna Wintour after the Sundance premiere of “The September Issue.”

The September Issue, financed by A&E IndieFilms will open in New York on August 28th. It will open elsewhere on September 11th. The film has already been sold to the UK, Latin America, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Scandinavia, the Baltics, Iceland, Japan, Greece, Korea, Taiwan, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Israel, Thailand and, just recently, Russia.

Fashion Insider Note:I’ve heard rumors of an exclusive Director’s Party as part of Bellevue Fashion Week in September! Stay tuned for more info!

We started today by taking the train to Euston Station to buy tickets for our weekend journey to Merseyside (which is pretty close to Liverpool). Then we headed over to see the London Eye! The line was ridiculously long so we bought the fast track passes for 27 pounds and only had to wait in line for about 10 minutes to get in. It was worth it! You can see for miles and you get an great view of Parliament and Big Ben. According to London's Where Magazine, the London Eye makes about 8,000 rotations in a tear at the speed of 26cm per second.

Then we walked over to St. Margaret's Cathedral and went inside to see the beautiful stained glass and rich history. I love going into old churches. This one has been around since the 12th century and was re-built in 1486-1523.

Then we went over to St. Paul's Cathedral which is massive compared with St. Margaret's. People come here to have lunch on the steps out front. The church is beautiful. One of the interesting thing's I've noticed is that many of the churches and cathedral's here have cafes downstairs. I'm Catholic so I'm familiar with the concept of "fellowship halls" but I've never seen so many large cafes in the downstairs area of a church.

Then we went to Covent Garden for a little bit of leisurely shopping. Covent Garden is the cutest neighborhood full of little boutiques, pubs and sidewalk cafe's. We stopped in for a beer at Punch & Judy's when we needed a little break from the flurry of tourists. Covent Garden is famous for all the hip boutiques on Neal Street and also inside Neal's Yard but the entire Covent Garden area is filled with shops including Original Penguin, Hugo Boss, Mango MNG, Nike, Miss Sixty, Benefit Cosmetics, MAC, Carhartt (which is a cool streetwear shop here in the UK), Energie, IMSO, Pop (a cool vintage store), Unconditional (a menswear store), Miss LaLa's Bourdouir (a lingerie store), Slam City Skate, G Star Raw, Spex in the City (an eyewear store), Jelly Pong Pong (an awesome cosmetics store) and Fenchurch (a great streetwear store for men and women). This was definitely one of our most favorite places to shop in London!

The international Fashion Group HUGO BOSS will open a new, directly operated BOSS Store at The Bellevue Collection in the landmark Bellevue Square. The store is currently set to open July 17, 2009.

Located in the Nordstrom wing, next to Tiffany & Co. and across from Burberry, the new BOSS Store aesthetic will extend just over 3,200 sq feet.

The new store will carry BOSS Black, BOSS Orange and BOSS Green menswear collections along with shoes and accessories.

The BOSS Black collection will be presented with oyster white walls and clean black lines. In contrast, the BOSS Orange interior features young, dynamic and innovative themes borrowed from the collection, featuring specially produced over-scale graphics. There will also be a special corner dedicated to BOSS Green – the sportswear collection for golf enthusiastic men.

“BOSS is an exciting addition to our retail mix in Bellevue Square,” says Kemper Freeman, Jr, CEO of Kemper Development Company, which owns and operates The Bellevue Collection. “The completed renovation of Bellevue Square has created an atmosphere that is attractive to designer brands like BOSS. This is one of the hottest menswear brands in the industry and one that will complement the mix of current menswear in the square and offer a new dimension that we’re confident will excite our customers.”

Today was our shopping day in the city. We started at Primark just down from our hotel and went a little crazy. For less than 60 pounds I got 3 dresses, 2 night gowns, a pair of leggings, 5 pairs of tights, and a set of bracelets. The crowds get crazy as the day lets on, so shop early if you can.

Our next stop was further down Oxford street. All the great high-street shops are lined up in a row including Monsoon, Next, Top Shop and New Look. It's fun to stop in and see what trends are being highlighted for the season before spending the rest of my afternoon in Selfridges.

If you're not familiar, Selfridges is a contemporary department store in London with an insane beauty department, world-famous shoe hall, mini pop-up shops, and more. Selfridges was founded in 1908 by American Harry Selfridge. He was a true visionary when it came to revolutionizing the way people shopped and was the first to put the beauty department at the front of the store. Today Selfridges is known for being forward-thinking and focuses heavily on the customer experience. The visual merchandising in the windows is always inspirational. You could literally spend an entire day at Selfridges shopping, dining, and enjoying a glass of wine on the roof as you unwind from a day of retail therapy.

Next stop: Piccadilly Circus. It's always overflowing with locals and tourists alike. Top Shop dominates this area and the storefront is massive- three levels to be exact complete with a cafe, blow dry bar, beauty bar, nail salon, and vintage section.

In the evening we head to Notting Hill. It's a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the city and the neighborhood is charming and warm. There are cute little coffee shops and boutiques to stop in and there are so many fun side streets to explore.

We stop for dinner at Walmer Castle and get a nice romantic fireplace table, even without a reservation. The food is wonderful, the service is slow, but hey we're on vacation. When we get back t our hotel we head to Kua for a quick nightcap. I recommend the lychee martini paired with chips and fancy sauce. Because, you know, when in Rome....

When I said I wanted my ashes to be spread at Fred Segal it was only because I hadn’t been to Harrods yet. Even on a random Sunday, the crowds lined up outside Harrods 30 minutes prior to opening and the entire city block sidewalk was packed with people waiting to go inside and indulge themselves in London’s finest shopping establishment. The windows of Harrods plainly boast “There’s only one fashion sale” which I found to be a complete understatement when I walked inside and was greeted with Marc Jacobs and Miu Miu handbags marked at 50-60% off.

The store is ridiculous in every way possible. For women, there’s enough designer apparel, accessories, shoes and beauty products to spend hours pillaging through. Plus, there’s an entire Christian Louboutin shoe section where the shoes are rightfully displayed on black pillars to showcase that they are in fact true works of art.Men have their own Man pub, electronic centers, musical instrument sections and in-house barber shop. And kids + babies have entire designer shopping sections by Dolce & Gabbana, Dior, Armani and Ralph Lauren. They even have Fendi Onesies!

As if that wasn’t enough, Harrods also had a Pet Kingdom which put the icing on the cake for me! For 92 pounds (or $149 USD) your pet pooch can have it’s very own zebra fur collar. You can pick up a pet rabbit for 55 pounds or perhaps an exotic short hair cat for 800 pounds. If that’s not your style, how about a Cairnoodle which is a mix between a Terrier and a poodle). I was dying when I was the Pet Shop Bakery which serves Pooch Petit Fours, doggie donuts, Pup Popcorn and Canine Cupcakes.

Harrods also had a full bookstore where I picked up a copy of How to Run a Fashion Label by Toby Meadows. We also enjoyed the fact that Harrods had an electronic store filled with flat screen TVs, home theatre systems and laptops, a music store with cds and DVD’s, a musical instrument store filled with guitars and pianos, and a lighting section dripping with crystal chandeliers in all shapes and sizes. And then there was the Food Hall... I never thought I’d be able to get Dim Sum, Sushi, Sandwiches, Deli Meats and Cheeses in a Department Store. It was unbelievable and of course, the assortment of chocolates looked more like a scene from Charlie & The Chocolate Factory rather than a retail outlet. Also, I just want to point out that the foundation stone of Harrods Store was laid on September 13th, 1911. (This happens to be the same day and month of my birthday which I think is a sign that I was destined to shop at Harrods, even 71 years before I was born).

I was so excited about Harrods that I entirely skipped over our journey to get there. We took a nice long walk through Hyde Park, which is a huge park located across the street from our hotel in Central London. The entire park is over 350 acres and has been around since the 1500’s. Click here to view the park history. The park has great fountains including the “Joy of Life Fountain” which makes up part of the Princess Diana Memorial Walk and the Statue of Achilles, which was sculpted in 1822.

We also stopped by Buckingham Palace to witness the changing of the guards and consult our city map to determine our next move. The palace and fountain in front are absolutely beautiful and we lucked out and went on a sunny day!

Stay tuned for my Day Three recap of Primark, Top Shop, Selfridges Department Store and Uniglo! Plus my stories of riding the tube and visiting Notting Hill!

Meet Sydney

Sydney Mintle is a fashion blogger based in Seattle. She began writing about the local shopping scene back in 2008 and has been sharing her love of indie designers and boutiques with readers all over the world ever since.